The Senate's finance reform bill and what it means to you

Last Thursday, the Senate passed a sweeping financial-reform bill that politicians and pundits alike agree will mean big changes for the way the business of finance is conducted in the U.S. -- even if they don't agree if those changes are good or bad. The House of Representatives passed its version of a reform bill late last year, so now lawmakers have the unenviable job of reconciling the many differences that remain between the two bills before it can become law.

A lot of the details of the bill (all 1,600 pages of it, as the blog Consumerist pointed out) pertain to banking regulations and the way financial firms are overseen and operated. But there are some facets of the bill that will, if they make it into the final version of the law, affect average Americans who own a home, use credit cards, take out loans -- in other words, just about all of us. Here's WalletPop's rundown of the pieces of the bill that will matter most to you.